India-Indonesia Ties
The state visit of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to India a fortnight ago was historic in more ways than one. His first trip as head of state coincided with the 75th anniversary of India-Indonesia diplomatic ties. He was the chief guest at the Republic Day parade, an honour given to Indonesia’s first President Sukarno at India’s first Republic Day in 1950. This time, around 352 Indonesian armed forces personnel were part of the parade, a first of sorts.
Even the outcomes of the visit are historic, says Ina Krisnamurthi, Indonesian Ambassador to India. The five MoUs signed and also the engagement at the business level went beyond the past spectrum. For the first time we talked about new frontiers—AI and also expanding trade and investment, according to her.
During the three years that I’ve been in Delhi, I have never seen such a range of new issues discussed, says Krisnamurthi. And two Indonesian presidents visited India during that period.
In terms of engagement between the two countries, those are achievements. But the challenge lies in following up on those engagements, she says.
Prabowo’s Priorities
President Prabowo has lined up his priorities. The first is food security, followed by energy security and health. He wants closer cooperation with India in these areas. These are new for the embassy and for me as the ambassador, says Krisnamurthi. According to her, India is a champion in digitisation and Indonesia can learn from it.
Prabowo is known for speaking his mind. During a meeting with PM Modi on the sidelines of the G20 meeting last year, he sought India’s help in the health sector. Indonesia lacks 160,000 doctors and nurses, and we need India’s help, he told Modi, according to Krisnamurthi. Prabowo has just completed 100 days in office and is expected to issue clear directives to the embassies on how to move forward.
Maritime Neighbours
The distance between the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and the northernmost tip of Indonesia is barely 80 nautical miles. But not many people know that Indonesia and India are close maritime neighbours, rues Krisnamurthi. “One needs to build awareness over and over again even as we mark 75 years of bilateral relations.”
She attributes the lack of direct flights between Delhi and Jakarta as a reason for poor people-to-people connectivity. And despite being close maritime neighbours, there is dearth of connectivity in that sphere as well.
There was maritime connectivity between mainland India and Indonesia a thousand years ago but all that seems to have been forgotten, she says. Better connectivity, be it maritime or air, will promote better people-to-people ties, she adds.
‘Focus on The Way Forward’
India and Indonesia have a cultural connect that goes back centuries but we “need to be forward looking”, when it comes to scaling up ties. Tourism is a great means to foster better connect but we need to explore different facets like health tourism, adventure tourism, even the ones based on religion, Krisnamurthi told StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale. Indonesian pilgrims have visited Bodh Gaya. The Ramayana, the Mahabharat and Sanskrit help us bond, says adds. “People-to-people connect is just like running a car. The past is in the rear view mirror. Forward is the way the car should go.”
